O’Reilly is by far the most fascinating FOX NEWS demagogue - His combination of self righteousness, shouting, lack of empathy and rage issues do make me wounder how he interpret the character Jesus in NT. Well, you do get the feeling that Old Bill is more of a OT kind of guy.
A bet old Bill even have the mental bicep to take on Chuck Norris - And that says a lot.

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I know that Dawkins wants to make appearances to promote his book. He knows that O’Reilly and perhaps most of O’Reilly’s market would prefer the he and his books didn’t even exist. I respect Richard Dawkins a great deal. He knew this appearance wouldn’t sell a lot of books but he’s not content to just sit back and preach to the choir so to speak. I think he went on the show because he wants the broader public to know there are other ideas out there besides what they hear in Church. Keep it up Professor Dawkins! Know that you are loved, respected and appreciated!

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Let us also point the connection O’Reilly makes to the origin of life and evolution. These are completely distinct (however related) topics. If you’re going to teach evolution, you’re not necessarily teaching the origin of life but rather the diversification of species through natural selection. This is a common mistake among creationists who debate evolution.

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I agree with you, Alone.  Dawkins is brave.

To Patrick, yes, it’s true that natural selection is separate from the question of origin, but there are many steps left unsaid but implicitly understood in this attack and counter-attack.  The idea of evolution through natural selection carries an indirect attack on religion through its denial of tenets like the separateness of man from beast, the age of the earth, the creation myth, etc.  Therefore, creationists make the counter-attack saying that we don’t understand origins, trying to undermine the whole structure of natural selection by digging out the foundation.  That’s why an assertion of evolution naturally is followed by a question about origins.

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Its simply this.  A “believer” cannot have a true debate with a “non-beliver”.  To have a debate you BOTH must be open and willing to see their side differently if an alternative “convincing” theory is provided.  Those who practice religion will NOT accept that their God does not exist - regardless of reason or logic.  So to get them to not accept creationism is to force acceptance that their belief in God is flawed.

The good thing is that religion is dying and dying fast.  Every generation that follows ours is more informed and the need for supernatural hooey is less prevalent.  I will not see it in my lifetime, but in the centuries ahead, religion will be only seen as a negative,primative and mocked culture - similar to witch doctors or psychics today.

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Dawkins is a credit to Darwinists. A truly brilliant mind.

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It is a tough task to go on Fox “News” and state a case against Christianity.  Regardless of the contrasting idea or opinion, if it does not correlate with Jesus the Fox pundits will label it as ‘elitist’, ‘smug’, or ‘lacking in morality’ (their best, however illogical, defense).  This seemingly leads to “smugness” across the board as the believers turn their noses to the alleged nose-turners.  FNC is closed-mindedness at it’s finest.  The network encapsulates modern-day ignorance and fear mongering.  As much as science has shown man in just the past century, it is ridiculous that such staunch complacency is being propagated daily and gaining support among those in fear of the death of their retarding superstition.

I am excited that individuals like Harris, Hitchens, and Dawkins exist and articulate well enough to cast the necessary doubt required to trigger self-interrogation and insight.

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I think it is fantastic Richard went on OReilly again. A lot of people watch his show and they need to know they aren’t living in a christian bubble where everybody believes that they believe. I also have to commend fox and OReilly for having Richard on the show. You can call them close minded, and you’d probably be right, but it shows some openness, IMHO, to have someone as formidable as Richard as a guest.

Great job Richard! And, I’m currently reading my copy of “The Greatest Show On Earth” right now and I love it so far!

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What I find most confusing about this “debate” is that O’Reilly claims to “believe in evolution, but…”
It seems as if Dawkins and company are actually making some progress in the court of public opinion - O’Reilly doesn’t actually believe that evolution is a fact, but he seems to recognize that people will consider him an illiterate boob if he doesn’t at least pay lip service to the scientific consensus. I think I consider this progress, but I’m not sure…

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It is absolutely shocking how Bill O’Reilly has singlehandedly lowered the standards of civilized debate in our country.
Just yell incoherent nonsense at a guest and don’t allow him to discuss anything in depth.
When the conversation is in danger of becoming meaningful, just cut to commercial.

The tragedy of the United States is that under the lofty banners of equality and free-speech we not only think that any moron’s opinion must have merit simply because it is uttered, we give the moron in question millions of dollars and his own prime-time show.

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Bad Rabbit your final line was fantastic….it should be a bumper sticker or something (b/c that’s the only thing americans have time to read).

.

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Speaking of Hall of Shame, considering that

a.  Sam Harris formed an advisory board that consists, among others, a comedian turned semi-political talk show host, Bill Maher
b.  Sam Harris had not even met Bill Maher before he went on his show middle of this year
c.  Bill Maher recently declared that it was not “settled science” that inoculations work
d.  Bill Maher was ridiculed for his statements
e.  Bill Maher repeats his outrageous comments
f.  The Reason Project is supposed to advance Reason through Science,

it is indeed shameful that Bill Maher is still on the advisory board, peddling arguments (“we should study it some more”) that would make Bill O’Reilly proud.

Bad Rabbit has a point, and in this case, it does apply to Bill Maher just as well.

Hey, don’t take my word for it, listen to PZ Myers, who commented on it last week, and reiterates it:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/10/the_2009_recipient_of_the_richard_dawkin_1.php?utm_source=networkbanner&utm_medium=link

Will Sam Harris please make a statement on his board of advisors?

Reason demands it!!!

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Mario,

Imagining a “force beyond the elements…profound and infinite” is no explanation whatsoever.  It certainly isn’t logical (or LOGICAL, even).

And I can only assume you were confused when you suggested that this imagined event occurred on Earth when “only the elements were around”. It makes no sense.

Certainly, we should ponder the possibility of combining lesser to former a greater thing, but with or without a better understanding of quantum mechanics than Mario, there will be no reason to assume a priori that it is a logical impossibility.  Question the likelihood of a a complex combination, as we scientists do. It is because we stopped assuming unlikely things were impossible a long time ago that progress was made.

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BM wrote .. “Why do I try?”

You’re not.  Actually trying to read what you are saying is comical.  You are a very confused person Mario and your passion on the subject only makes reading your words a truly pathetic experience for any rational mind.

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Mario,
it is a problem when you use a word like philosophy in the year 2009, and try to give it the same meaning that the classical philosophers gave to it. It is old news that for them the word Philosophy was a discipline of questioning, divided in two areas. One was what we now consider the several disciplines that encompass Science, and the other what came to be Humanities. The first quantifiable, the second relative.
but a bigger problem is when your professor tells you that every problem in the world can be reduced to ignorance of metaphysics and you actually keep calling him professor.

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I like Bill.  I disagree with his stance on vaccinations.  I do not believe he should be removed from the RP Board.  He is well-educated, brave, and has a voice that reaches many.  I think he made a mistake.  He doesn’t need to apologize to me, but I hope he changes his mind in the near future or, at the least, stops spewing that nonsense about the H1N1 vaccine.

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My post above should not be here.  Wrong article.

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Watching and listening to Bill O’Reilly makes me wanna stick forks in my ears and gouge my eyes out with my bare hands…when he says “facism” i nearly threw up.

Dawkins is a brilliant mind and “debating” with someone like Bill O’Reilly is…ugh…it’s just so annoying…don’t get me wrong, I love to hear a great debate and there are plenty of great videos of Dawkins and Harris etc. debating others…but i just think O’Reilly is… a dick…for lack of a better word.

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Brother Mario I suggest you read The God Delusion.  Dawkins does a very good job of disposing of all your arguments.  They are nothing new and not at all unique.  I wonder what kind of third rate university you must attend considering the ignorant musings of your professor.

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How can you not believe in a God who invented shit?

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